Italy: Salvini on Trial For 'Kidnapping' Migrants - 'As a Christian, I will Endure' (Video)

Former Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is on trial again, this time in Palermo. Salvini is on trial for “kidnapping,” which in reality was preventing 164 potentially dangerous and illegal migrants from disembarking from a controversial Spanish NGO ship, Open Arms.

The 48-year-old leader of the Lega Pary faces a possible 15 years in jail if convicted. Judges could also hand him a lifetime ban from holding public office.

As previously reported at RAIR Foundation USA, left-wing Italian Senators voted 149 to 141 last July to strip him of his parliamentary immunity, paving the way for prosecution. The socialist-led Senate previously voted to lift Salvini’s immunity for a similar case involving an illegal Italian migrant boat. 

Salvini refused to grant Open Arms, a George Soros-tied NGO ship widely accused of human trafficking, permission to dock in an Italian port in August 2019. For several weeks, the boat remained at sea until several European Union countries took the illegal migrants aboard the ship. Salvini had asked the ship to leave Italian waters and go to Spain, where the left-wing government issued a public invitation for the boat to dock.

As previously reported at RAIR, Salvini released a video exposing the coordination between NGO migrant ships and illegal human traffickers:

These human smugglers are transporting migrants from just off the coast of Libya to the shores of Italy. Shockingly, these human traffickers actually leverage their Facebook page to promote their services and recruit ‘customers.’

Despite the well-organized left-wing attacks on the beloved Italian Leader, Salvini has continued to fight for his country and citizens boldly.

Salvini has repeatedly said that he acted in Italy’s national interest. The charges against him throughout the years are politically motivated, aimed at silencing criticism of Italy’s open-door migration policy.

Salvini, who attended the hearing, said he was only doing his job and his duty by refusing to grant the Open Arms ship to dock in an Italian port. “I am going to trial with my head held high, in your name as well as mine. Italy first, always,” Salvini tweeted immediately after the ruling. “Defending our country is a citizen’s sacred duty … that is what I am being tried for.”

In a press conference held outside of his trial, Salvini declared that the decision to indict him is “political, not judicial.” Salvini denounced the spin-doctored charge of “kidnapping” illegal migrants:

I won’t be called a kidnapper. I won’t have it. The mere idea sounds ridiculous. The mere idea sounds ridiculous.

The deeply religious Christian leader and father, Salvini, is extremely troubled by the toll the political witch hunt on his children, stating:

“I am sad for my own children. Because I will have to explain to them that their dad is risking imprisonment and that maybe he won’t be spending Saturdays with them at the playground anymore. This makes me feel sorry. That said, I acted as a father, and I will endure all that, as a Christian.”

During his 14 months as interior minister, Salvini stopped several boats from docking in Italy to stop the invasion of illegal and dangerous migrants into Italy. Salvini regularly exposed the so-called NGO charities as people smuggling operations.

Mr. Salvini faced the same charge a few months ago in a court in Catania but was acquitted. As reported previously here, here, here, and here, Salvini prevented illegal migrants from disembarking from the Gregoretti, another Soros-funded NGO ship. 

The prosecutor in that case, Andrea Bonomo of Catania in Sicily, advised against a trial, arguing that Salvini was carrying out government policy when he kept the 116 migrants at sea for five days.

The left-wing Italian legal system seems to keep dragging him from venue to venue until they get the verdict they want. The latest politically charged trial will begin in the Sicilian capital of Palermo on September 15.

The legal system in Italy, which far-left wing activists have penetrated, seems to keep dragging Salvini from court to court until they get the guilty verdict they want. The latest politically motivated trial will begin in the Sicilian capital of Palermo on September 15.

A recent Italian poll revealed that a plurality of Italians believe Salvini should not be on trial. Furthermore, most believe it is wrong for the Senate to strip the leader of his parliamentary immunity.  The left’s political witch hunt aimed at eliminating Salvini and flooding Italy with illegals will likely backfire on his opponents and only boost his poll numbers.